My landlord has finally decided that's time to paint and the house and has allow us to choose the color scheme. Needless to say, I imme...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

11 Alive and Hands on Atlanta Join Forces for Make a Difference Day by Offering 11 Community Projects

Make A Difference Day is the nation's
largest day of volunteering, and is an annual event that takes place
on the fourth Saturday of October. This year, it falls on October 27,
2012. 11Alive joins the Make a Difference Day movement with 11 events
through the city. With our partner, Hands on Atlanta, we encourage
you to JOIN US at one of the 11 highlighted events listed
below OR do your own community project and tell
us what you did.

For more than 20 years, USA WEEKEND
Magazine has mobilized millions of people across the U.S. for this
National Day of Doing Good. Together with its hundreds of carrier
newspapers, longstanding partner Points of Light and Newman's Own, it
rallies millions in a single day to help change the communities they
live in.

HomeStretch gives homeless
parents and their children a safe and comfortable place to live
while simultaneously helping them address the root causes of their
situation and return to a life of self-reliance and stability.
When they graduate from HomeStretch, the families have a strong
grasp on their finances, have reduced insurmountable debt and have
accumulated savings. Many have even increased their income through
job skills training and improved employment. Project
consists of minor landscaping work such as lawn mowing, hedge
trimming, mulch laying, and leaf raking/bagging. Some other common
tasks include Interior painting and minor interior demolition. On
occasion we pressure wash and paint the exterior of HomeStretch's
transitional housing units. While landscaping and beautification
are typical tasks we also move donated furniture in and out of
HomeStretch's housing units in preparation for a new family's
arrival. - Click
here to Sign Up

Our drivers are a
critical part of the service we provide to the community, since a
majority of our clients are homebound. In fact, our volunteer
drivers are quite often the only person a client may see on any
given day. But as much as that meal - and that simple moment
shared means to each client - it means just as much to each
volunteer. Volunteers
break up into small groups of 2-3 and use their own vehicles to
deliver meals. We will provide extremely detailed driving
directions and a 30 minute delivery training. Delivery training
will begin at 10am, and the average route is 2-3 hours long. You
will only deliver meals within the metro Atlanta area. Minimum
Volunteer Age: N/A with an adult *
Since multiple people can ride in the same car, we schedule our
volunteer routes in terms of the number of cars that are needed
rather than the number of volunteers needed. We would like a
minimum of 5 cars, and a maximum of 30 cars.- Click
here to Sign Up

PushPush
Theater supports the development of artists who push boundaries
and shares their work with the community. PushPush, an
award-winning theater dedicated to the development of performing
artists, aims to be a force in cultural progression by supporting
and providing artistic and cultural development and offering the
outcomes to the community through a wide range of innovative
programming. During
the Volunteer Days of Service, volunteers will paint, clean and
redesign the theater for the upcoming new productions (exact
details vary from month to month). This may involve set
construction, seating setup and enhancing the overall theater
atmosphere. - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 15

The Hands On Atlanta Discovery
Program is a volunteer-led Saturday tutoring and enrichment
program that supports Monday-Friday instruction through homework
assistance, tutoring, educational games, and enrichment through
field trips and service-learning projects. Sessions occur two or
three Saturdays per month for two hours (10am - noon). Our goal is
to get as close to one-on-one volunteer to student ratio as
possible to allow for more individualized attention and to develop
relationships between students and adult volunteers. Students are
divided up by grade level and the activities for each grade are
planned by grade captains who manage the classroom activities.
During the months of March and April, the Discovery Program
supports the schoolsâ€™ needs by providing students with CRCT
(Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests from the Georgia
Performance Standards) practice. Students are engaged in math,
language arts, social studies and science. Parklane
Elementary Discovery is a Saturday morning tutoring program that
offers one-on-one and small group enrichment activities for
at-risk children. Volunteers lead activities and help with reading
and math skills for students in kindergarten through 5th grades.
Minimum Volunteer
Age: 16 *Volunteers
who speak Spanish are especially needed. - Click
here to Sign Up

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Atlanta Union Mission
is a Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any
person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery.
Atlanta Union
Mission offers comprehensive childcare and after school care for
women with children staying at the Mission. Children receive a
Christian-based pre-school curriculum or after school care. They
also receive counseling from behavior specialists and participate
in group trips. Children's services are currently offered at the
Howell Mill Campus, which features age-appropriate classrooms,
activity rooms and two playgrounds. Volunteers are needed to
assist with Sorting of clothing donations. - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 5

Atlanta Union Mission is a
Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any
person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery.
Atlanta Union
Mission offers comprehensive childcare and after school care for
women with children staying at the Mission. Children receive a
Christian-based pre-school curriculum or after school care. They
also receive counseling from behavior specialists and participate
in group trips. Children's services are currently offered at the
Howell Mill Campus, which features age-appropriate classrooms,
activity rooms and two playgrounds. Volunteers are needed to
assist with Meal Preparation for 200 shelter guests and residents.
*Volunteers must
be at least 13 years old with adult supervision. Please wear
comfortable closed toed shoes with a sturdy sole (no open toed
shoes, heels). - Click
here to Sign Up

Education

Boyd
Elementary1891 Johnson
RoadAtlanta, GA
303189:00 a.m.-12:00
p.m.

Boyd Elementary is one of 3
year-round schools within the Atlanta Public Schools system.
Volunteers are needed toÂ create a sensory learning
environment for Boyd Elementary's Pre-K students.Â Each
month, the Pre-K classroom decorating team assists the teacher to
decorate bulletin boards and display visual aides, disinfect toys
and surfaces, and organize the teacher work room. Decorations are
based on the learning modules for October - Home & Family. -
Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 16

The Green Market is a program
of Piedmont Park Conservancy. It is a local farmers market that
offers fresh, locally grown produce and healthy food choices. This
program supports local farmers, health lifestyles and community
building. Volunteers
will assist with set-up and break-down of Green Market (Chef's
Demonstration, Kid's Tent, Veggie Valet, Marketing Surveys,
Signage, Market Tables and Umbrellas etc.) Volunteers will assist
vendors with set up and break down of their booths, assisting
market guests with directions within Piedmont Park, chef demo
assistance, kids tent assistance and other general questions. The
Green Market for Piedmont Park will be held from 9:00am to 1:00pm
every Saturday, May 5th to December 8th at the 12th Street Gate on
Piedmont Ave. The Green Market is open Rain or Shine - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 18

Atlanta Union Mission is a
Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any
person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery.
Volunteers will
processing donations received at the Marietta Thrift Store in
order to get them ready to sell. Â The donations processing
involves inspecting, sorting, hanging, tagging and putting clothes
on the sales floor. Â Some of the donations may be household
goods, books, furniture, toys and sporting goods. Â These
donations must be inspected, sorted and priced before being put on
the sales floor. Â In addition to processing donations, the
volunteers will be asked to provide customer service to our
patrons. - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 12

The Blue Heron Nature
Preserve is a twenty-five acre natural wilderness along Nancy
Creek located just off Roswell Road in Atlanta, Georgia. Our goals
include involving local communities in the preservation and
restoration of local greenspace, wetland habitats, stream bank and
riparian corridors along Nancy Creek. Volunteers
will be focusing on the Mill Trail. This is a critical component
of our overall Master Plan that will link the primary Blue Heron
property on Roswell Road with the Emma Wetlands track across
Lakemoore Drive. The trail will start near the new trail we
installed in June with the Discovery Communications group. It will
start at Lakemoore Drive and follow the creek up to the waterfall
near the Eidson Mill Dam. - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 16

MedShare
International is dedicated to recycling surplus medical supplies
and equipment for use by healthcare institutions in developing
countries. Metro Atlanta is served by the provision of an
environmentally and socially responsible alternative to disposal
of medical materials. And simultaneously, international healthcare
organizations are provided with needed supplies. MedShare
International is dedicated to recycling surplus medical supplies
and equipment for use by healthcare institutions in developing
countries. On Thursdays, volunteers are needed to sort specialized
surgical instruments. Thursday volunteers must be at 16 years old,
and should either be medical professionals or be willing to commit
to returning on a weekly basis. *Possibility
that volunteers will also assist students from Bobby Dodd with
sorting. - Click
here to Sign UpMinimum Volunteer
Age: 13